


Drift

by BritChick91



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 06:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10431504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritChick91/pseuds/BritChick91
Summary: In a timeline where TFA's plot develops a great deal slower, Han Solo accidentally adopts two young runaways.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This piece isn't quite a full AU, but it does mess with The Force Awakens' timeline. See the bottom Notes if you're uncertain about anything

"This is a rescue."

Such a simple sentence, but it changed everything really. Finn (then FN-2187) may have been having doubts for a long time, but it was seeing the face of the captured pilot, bloodied after Ren left, that made up his mind. 

It had been simple bad luck for the pilot really. A simple sweep of the area had spotted his ship at a station, and the threat of civilian casualties had caused him to surrender. Nothing dramatic, nothing planet shattering. Just the wrong place at the wrong time.

\---

"I can fly anything." the pilot had promised him, before giving him a rundown of the weapons systems, and for a crucial moment, Finn had believed him. Believed that they could get away from the Order, and seek sanctuary with someone called Organa. The pilot (Poe, his name was Poe) had even given him a real name. 

And then the Order had hit their stolen shuttle, and they had crash landed on Jakku.  
The shuttle was lost, and so was Poe. Stunned but mostly unharmed, all Finn could do was walk until he found civilisation.

\---

Then he met Rey.

Her fellow junkers were attempting to steal an unusually large cargo salvage from her speeder. Finn, still half blind from the sun, had regardless stumbled over trying to help. Most of the attackers had already been handled by the young scavenger by the time he reached the group, but he managed one woozy punch. Rey had looked at him for a moment, skeptical, but once he helped her gather her materials she warmed, smiling and thanking him for his (attempt at) assistance.

That was of course when the Order struck.

Poe would have been by far the more valuable bounty, but failing that Finn knew a defector would be plenty of sport for the upper ranks before they were merciful enough to wipe his mind in Reconditioning. Rey had taken his hand and the two had fled, dodging blaster fire the whole way. They decided without words to commandeer a ship, Finn once again trusting someone who said they could fly to whisk him away. This time their opponents were the ones sent crashing to the ground, and Finn felt a little satisfaction in avenging Poe. He hadn't known the other man long but there had been a quick and easy bond that often comes between those risking their lives together. It was similar to the bond he was feeling with Rey now as they gushed over each other's abilities - hers to fly, his to shoot. Such jubilation was naturally short lived when another vessel locked on to them.

Han and Chewie were old and grizzled and messy in the way nothing had ever been allowed to be on Order bases, so Finn liked them almost as soon as he was sure they weren't going to either deliberately kill him or accidentally get him killed. Han gave him a sip of something warming he called "hooch" once the Falcon was off again and away from the Rathtars and mercenaries already after the price on his head. There's no point hiding it once the gangs reveal he's ex-First Order, and he softly but surely tells Han the whole sorry story. Han stares at him uncomfortably long with an unreadable expression, but finally he nods and tells both Finn and Rey there's a couple of unused bunks they can use while he decides their next step.

\---

In what passes for morning in the stars, Han loans both of them clothes, and they take turns to use a tiny Refresher in a cramped corner of the ship. The items hang loose and long on both of them, and it makes Finn realise just how young Rey is. From her expression, she may be thinking the same of him. Han certainly is when they nervously seek him out. He makes them eat a simple breakfast of ration packs, and once they've both forced down as much of the dry biscuits as they can, he lays it out: Finn is wanted by the First Order; Rey will likely get a price on her head for stealing the Falcon. Han is no saint himself, but he knows how to disappear, and what areas are no friends to the Order, no matter the credits involved. Rey and Finn are also unknowns, and more importantly, not yet known associates of Han Solo and Chewbacca. They have skills Han can use, and he has skills he can teach them in return. He warns them it will be basic and unglamourous, but states that he believes that between the four of them they could make a decent, if not always honest, living.

Rey and Finn glance at each other. They have nowhere else to go, and striking out with someone with a general idea of what direction to head in seems like a better option than either was expecting to get. They both agree readily, and Chewie claps a hand on a should each, nearly sending them both flying off their chairs, and roars him approval. 

\---

Their first voyage is a lean and hungry one - the Falcon has stood empty and unused for over a decade and they need to put as much distance between themselves and the Order before they can stop for supplies, but Han keeps them busy investigating and taking note of what contents there are on the ship. Rey's scavenging is valuable and by the time they reach a station where no-one pays much attention to those passing through, they have a decent amount of items to sell. Plus, if Han dips into his own emergency funds to get the kids some better clothes, well if nothing else it means they stop borrowing his, so shut it Chewie. 

The bunk they're using is tiny, with a threadbare curtain dividing the room between Finn's side and Rey's, but that's comforting. Both had become used to the silence of their own situations, so being able to softly call to the other in the night becomes a luxury they wouldn't want to give up. Han is a gruff but surprisingly adept teacher, and Rey and Finn are eager students. At first, it's because the more useful they are, the longer Han will keep them around, but after a month, he catches on to this mindset and makes it clear the bunk is theirs for as long as they want it. After that, learning is a joy, even if sometimes Han gazes at them both as though he's seeing another person's face altogether.

There are a few scant rules to the Falcon, ones which Finn and Rey don't understand, but obey without question. The Rebellion is not the enemy, but should be avoided, because they always bring trouble at their heels. (Finn wraps his inherited jacket around himself tightly whenever the Rebellion is mentioned) A console near the cockpit tracks where a Leia is at all times, and that location is always at least three planets between them and the Falcon. 

Finally, and most importantly, any whisper of the word "Skywalker" is reported to Han immediately.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope people like this! It's mainly my indulgent desire for Han to take in Finn and Rey with Chewie and all four to have space adventures together. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Changes to TFA's Timeline -  
> Poe isn't chasing a map to Luke when he's captured, and therefore doesn't send BB8 away with the data. He's on a regular mission when bad fortune hits. Finn breaks him out as in the film, they're shot down on Jakku, and pretty much everything up until the Millennium Falcon escapes the Rathtar is the same with the exception of BB8 not being there.  
> The First Order is still building the Starkiller base, but it's still got a good couple of years to go before it's ready. Our friends in the Falcon have some time to gets settled before the rug gets pulled out from under them!


End file.
